Why labels print misaligned
You print a sheet of 21 address labels, the first row is perfect, and by the bottom row the text is creeping over the die-cut edge. Nothing about the file is wrong. What happened is that the printer resized the page by a couple of per cent, and a couple of per cent of 297 mm is several millimetres by the time you reach the last row.
Print at 100 per cent — this is the whole problem
Every dimension in the layout is calculated in millimetres, so any rescaling at the printer destroys it. In the print dialog choose Actual size, 100 per cent or None under scaling. Turn off Fit to page, Shrink oversized pages and Scale to fit — several of these are on by default, and the popular PDF readers each name them differently. Turn off borderless and edge-to-edge modes too. If a print dialog does not offer an actual-size option at all, print from a different viewer rather than accepting whatever it does.
The one-page test
Print a single page on plain paper before touching the label stock. Hold it against an unused label sheet in front of a window: the printed rectangles should sit inside the die-cut labels with an even margin all round. This takes a minute and identifies the fault precisely. Rectangles smaller than the labels and drifting inward toward the bottom right means scaling. Rectangles the right size but shifted uniformly means a printer margin offset. Rectangles the right size but drifting only downward means the vertical pitch is wrong for your stock.
Uniform offset: your printer's unprintable margin
Every printer has an area at the edges it physically cannot print, and drivers handle it in two different ways: some shift the whole page inward, others clip it. If the test page comes out the right size but everything sits, say, 1.5 mm low and 1 mm right, that is this. The app lets you nudge the whole sheet by a measured offset — measure the error on the test print with a ruler, enter it once, and it applies to every sheet from that printer. Do not fix this by editing the template dimensions; the template is right and the printer is the thing that is off.
Drift down the page: the pitch is wrong
If the first row is perfect and the error grows with each row, the vertical pitch does not match your stock. Measure it directly: from the top edge of one label to the top edge of the label below it, over several rows if you can, then divide. Measuring across ten rows and dividing by ten is far more accurate than measuring one gap. Enter the measured pitch in the custom layout. This is the case where the sheet in your hand genuinely differs from the code printed on the box — manufacturers revise stock, and national editions vary.
Frequently asked questions
Why do my labels shift down the page?
Almost always page scaling. Choose Actual size or 100 per cent in the print dialog and turn off Fit to page. If it persists with scaling off, the vertical pitch of your stock differs from the template.
What is the correct print setting for labels?
Actual size or 100 per cent scaling, no fit-to-page, no borderless mode, and the correct paper size — A4 for A4 stock, Letter for Letter stock. Printing an A4 layout on Letter paper silently rescales it.
Should I print from the browser or save the PDF first?
Save the PDF and print it from a PDF reader with scaling off. Browser print dialogs vary in how they handle page scaling, and some apply a margin of their own.
My labels are the right size but sit slightly low and to the right.
That is your printer's unprintable margin. Measure the offset on a test print and enter it once as a sheet offset; it applies to every print from that printer.
Can I use a laser and inkjet interchangeably?
The geometry is the same, but the label stock is not: laser labels use adhesive that tolerates the fuser's heat. Using inkjet-only stock in a laser printer can leave adhesive inside the machine.
Do I need to print a test every time?
No — once per printer and per type of stock. Note the offset you found and reuse it.
Labels that line up with the sheet you actually bought. Label Sheet lays out address labels, SKU barcodes and shipping labels at the exact millimetres of your sheet, then exports a PDF that prints at 100 per cent. Your data stays in the browser.
Make a label sheet in the browser